Published on July 17th, 2012 | by Adrian Simpson
The Kozakov Challenge
Anyone who thought that skateboarding was all about wearing grunge and tearing up the local Civic Centre, riding rails and kick flip ollies might be in for a bit of a shock, because there’s another sort of tray merchant that has no interest in becoming a ramp champ: the longboarder.
Longboarding is the high speed downhill discipline that in almost every way is completely detached from the better known world of half pipe heroes. The boards are obviously longer and they’re a different shape as well, the people who ride them have a completely different mindset and outfits to match – full motorcycle leathers and a crash helmet are compulsory. And then it gets a bit more convoluted as the longboarders can then also become buttboarders. This is in no way a euphemism for anything, it’s simply a longboarder who feels more comfortable lying on his board than standing, a sort of street luge style.
The Kozakov Challenge forms part of the World Cup Series of Buttboarding and Longboarding races and takes place this year on the 25 – 28th July in the Czech Republic. The event is split into 3 different catgeories: downhill skateboard, street luge and classic luge and with the course a shade over 2 miles the best riders can reach in excess of 60mph.
This race has taken the downhill world by storm only gaining World Cup status back in 2010, it already has a claim to be the most challenging event on the circuit. Well, the only way to really appreciate the sport and course is to see it action but we’ll also be running an interview next week with the man who dreamt all of this up and made a dream from behind the Iron Curtain come true: Zoltan Buttboard. What a name.
About the Author
Adrian Simpson Adrian Simpson is a writer and TV presenter with a profound love of the outdoors. His family, snow, sea, brewing, vinyl, guitars and VW buses mean the world to him.
